Honestly, I cannot control my senses: when will Krsna kindly control them for me???

[krsna]

He is undoubtedly the supreme master of the senses(mine too).

 

It seems the harder I try to control them, the more

 

impossible it becomes. I give up.

 

Should I fervently pray that one day soon Lord Sri Krsna

 

will be so pleased by my service attitude that with one

 

swift stoke of His causeless mercy Krsna will completely

 

and utterly control my senses as if they were His???(Sri Hrishikesa)

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Same here, I try and fail.

 

But, we just try...thats all...seeing our sincereity He will do things at the right time!

 

Till then..keep trying as hard as you can-just dont give up!

 

Haribol!

 

anand

[stonehearted]

And harder. You may give up any sense that you may be able to succeed on your own, but you may not give up the effort. Take progressively firmer shelter of the mercy (the instructions) of your spiritual master. Study--and sing--Bhaktivinoda Thakura's songs of Saranagati. Sing Damodarastakam each night for the rest of Karttika. Meditate on those two fingers she came up short each time she tried to bind Krishna; one finger is her effort (her hair came undone, and she was perspiring), and the other is Krishna's mercy. Keep on truckin', brother! No excuses; no whiners!

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Now even though I am not sure what sort of sense desires you're in battle with - here is a nice text to contemplate as you think of your question:

 

"The Blessed Lord said: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a clod, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all fruitive undertakings—such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature." [bG 14.22-25]

 

He who does not hate illumination, <big>attachment and delusion</big> when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear

 

So I say just do not worry about it - [unless it is expressing itself in ways that'll get you into trouble with others]!

 

The worst part of any measure of change is unhealthy guilt - if we simply prosecute our Krishna Sadhana and know that that is our primary attachment - no matter if we have few or many attachments these "I and mine" desires will subside over time.

 

"Gradually, step by step, with full conviction, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else." [bG 6.25]

 

You know that it is gradually - not overnight.

 

So I say do not worry about it

 

[stonehearted]

Don't let yourself become consumed by guilt, but don't allow yourself to become complacent, either. Progress gradually, but as steadily as you can. Embrace the process of saranagati: accepting whatever calls spiritual progress, rejecting whatever impedes it, certainty that Krishna will protect you in all circumstances, accepting Him as your sole shelter, surrendering completely to Him, and feeling yourself meek and humble. These are Lord Chaitanya's hints as to how to make progress. He doesn't say you should beat yourself up over your shortcomings, but there's no hint that you should be happy with them, either.

[stonehearted]

Alas, for those who spend their days

In festive mirth and joy.

The dazzling, deadly, liquid forms

Their hearts fore’er employ.

The shining bottles charm their eyes

And draw their heart’s embrace;

The slaves of wine can never rise

From what we call disgrace.

Was man intended to be

A brute in work and heart?

Should man, the Lord of all around,

From common sense depart?

Man’s glory is in common sense

Dictating us the grace,

That man is made to live and love

The beauteous Heaven’s embrace.

The flesh is not our own, alas,

The mortal frame a chain;

The soul confined for former wrongs

Should try to rise again.

Why then this childish play in that

Which cannot be our own;

Which falls within a hundred years

As if a rose ablown.

Our life is but a rosy hue

To go ere long for naught;

The soul alone would last fore’er

With good or evil fraught.

How deep the thought of times to be!

How grave the aspect looks!

And wrapt in awe become, O, we,

When reading Nature’s books.

Man’s life to him a problem dark,

A screen both left and right;

No soul hath come to tell us what

Exists beyond our sight.

But then a voice, how deep and soft,

Within ourselves is felt,

Man! Man! Thou art immortal soul!

Thee Death can never melt.

For thee thy Sire on High has kept

A store of bliss above,

To end of time, thou art Oh! His—

Who wants but purest love.

O Love! Thy power and spell benign

Now melt my soul to God;

How can my earthly words describe

That feeling soft and broad?

Enjoyment, sorrow—what but lots

To which the flesh is heir?

The soul that sleeps alone concludes

In them it hath a share.

And then, my friends, no more enjoy

Nor weep for all below;

The women, wine, and flesh of beasts

No love on thee bestow.

But thine to love thy brother man

And give thyself to God,

And God doth know your wages fair—

This fact is true and broad.

Forget the past that sleeps and ne’er

The future dream at all,

But act in times that are with thee

And progress thee shall call.

But tell me not in reasoning cold

The soul is made alone

By Earth’s mechanic lifeless rules

And to destruction prone.

My God who gave us life and all

Alone the soul can kill,

Or give it all the joys above

His promise to fulfill.

So push thy onward march, O soul,

Against an evil deed,

That stands with soldiers Hate and Lust—

A hero be indeed.

Maintain thy post in spirit world

As firmly as you can,

Let never matter push thee down—

O stand heroic man.

O Saragrahi Vaisnava soul,

Thou art an angel fair;

Lead, lead me on to Vrindaban

And spirit’s power declare.

There rest my soul from matter free

Upon my Lover’s arms—

Eternal peace and spirits love

Are all my chanting charms.

--Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

Obeisances to you!

 

I was hoping that this was the point of my message - I guess you understood the point about the middle-way.

 

Krishna says:

 

One who can control his senses by practicing the regulated principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord and thus become free from all attachment and <big>aversion</big>. [bG 2.64]

 

So indeed - we must walk down the center and - as you said - we do not want to become complacent nor guilt ridden.

 

Just to mention - I've read many of your postings - I like your mature and experianced approach to KC and life in general. You are a nice first class devotee!

 

YS,

 

BDM

 

[krsna]

Caitanya Caritamrta 1.4.164-166:

 

 

kama, prema,----donhakara vibhinna laksana

lauha ara hema yaiche svarupe vilaksana

 

 

Lust and love have different characteristics, just as iron and gold have different natures.

 

atmendriya-priti-vancha----tare bali 'kama'

krsnendriya-priti-iccha dhare 'prema' nama

 

 

The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krsna is prema [love].

 

kamera tatparya----nija-sambhoga kevala

krsna-sukha-tatparya-matra prema ta' prabala

 

 

The object of lust is only the enjoyment of one's own senses. But love caters to the enjoyment of Lord Krsna, and thus it is very powerful.

 

 

------------

 

So, can someone please tell me about that powerful?

 

How can I possibly "cater to the enjoyment of Lord Krsna"in this material body made of stool, bile and mucus?

[krsna]

Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami compares this deficiency in the conditioned jivas to coming under the influence of a witch's spell.

 

sei dose maya pisaci danòa kare tare

adhyatmikadi tapa-traya tare jari mare

kama krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya

bhramite bhramite jadi sadhu-vaidya paya

tanra upadesa-mantre pisaci palaya

krsna-bhakti paya tabe krsna nikate jaya

 

"For rejecting Krishna, the witch of illusion punishes the jiva, causing him to suffer the three kinds of misery--adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. The unfortunate conditioned soul then becomes the slave of his desires and his frustrations, suffering their kicks and abuse. After wandering through the universe in this condition, if he somehow finds a saintly person to act as an exorcist, then through his powerful instructions, the witch's mastery is overcome and she runs for her life. The fortunate individual then finds pure devotion to Krishna and goes to Him."

(Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.22.13-15)

 

The devotee then turns to Krishna and prays as follows:

 

kamadinam kati na katidha

palita durnidesas

tesam jata mayi na karuna

na trapa nopasantih

utsrjyaitan atha yadupate

sampratam labdha-buddhis

tvam ayatah saranam abhayam

mam niyunksyatma-dasye

 

"I carried out so many evil orders of my wicked masters--lust, anger, greed, bewilderment, intoxication, and envy--that I have lost count. Yet, despite my faithful service, these masters have never taken pity on me. I am so shameless that the faintest desire for devotional service has never once manifested in my heart. O Lord of the Yadus, today I have finally come to my senses and I throw off my shackles to take shelter of Your fearless lotus feet; please engage me in Your personal service."

 

(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 3.2.25, Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.22.16)

 

[Guest guest]

If you make the effort, you fail. Saranagati is an effortless process. One who makes the effort to surrender isn't really interested in surrendering, that's why he's 'making' the effort.

 

If an aspirant *really* feels Krishna is the only object worthy of worship, he'll surrender spontaneously. Effort is not a helper. It is a hurdle.

[stonehearted]

Thanks for the kind words, Don. Yer right, too! I always appreciate your common-sense contributions. As Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in that poem, our glory is in common sense.

[Bhakta Don Muntean]

Hari Bol!

 

Thank you for your kind words!

 

I am pleased you like my postings - I appreciate your comment about common-sense - it was Prabhupada's common-sense purports that hooked me into reading more and more Prabhupada!

 

What do you think of my new simple gif animations on my origins of satan string?

 

Yer servant,

 

BDM

 

PS: I got my Mala [chanting beads] [the same one I still use each day] from a Devotee in Hawaii - he sent them to me by mail when I lived in Edmonton in 1988 - I called the Temple there and talked with a nice devotee one night and then he sent them to me when he found out I had already gone a year without a mala.